Founder of children’s empathy building program visits MFRC Daycare

Above: Leanne Harel, MFRC Childcare Supervisor, reads aloud a children’s book to a group of five to eight year olds in accordance with Mary Gordon’s Seeds and Roots of Empathy philosophy.

Rachel Lallouz, Staff Writer ~

Founder of the Seeds and Roots of Empathy program, Mary Gordon, toured the Military Family Resource Centre (MFRC) daycare Jan. 25, where she viewed a literacy circle of three-to-five year olds.

Both Seeds of Empathy and Roots of Empathy foster social and emotional competence and literacy skills in children, and reduce aggression in children while increasing empathy.

Both programs have been run by the MFRC for 10 years. Seeds of Empathy is done in the MFRC’s three-to-five year old daycare. Roots of Empathy is facilitated by the MFRC in a kindergarten class at Crystal View Elementary School. Children between three and five years of age begin to discover empathy, and the program accelerates this learning through creative exercises such as literacy circles, art and drama activities.

“To have a program that puts children in touch with how they feel, and how other people feel gives children personal power that enables them to build lasting relationships,” says Gordon.

At the beginning of the Seeds of Empathy program, an infant is brought into the class to interact with the preschoolers. Gordon says the baby is the teacher and modeller of emotions, and the preschoolers learn to label feelings by watching the baby.

“Children learn their own emotional literacy by recognizing emotions on the baby’s face, and then are able to recognize the feelings of others, such as in the faces of characters found in books shared during literacy circles,” explains Leanne Harel, MFRC Childcare Supervisor, who has been teaching the program for six years.

The program is especially crucial to children of military members who may be facing additional stress from a parent’s deployment.

“Anytime in a community where there are levels of stress, such as sadness about family separation, it’s important for little children to have emotional literacy so they can develop insight into how they feel, so they can talk to others about it,” says Gordon.

During Gordon’s visit, Harel read Llama Llama Red Pajama, a children’s book by Anna Dewdney, to a group of eight children. The children were completely immersed in the world of Dewdney’s book, as Gordon observed them.

After the literacy circle, the program’s founder was presented with the Military Family Coin by Executive Director of the Esquimalt MFRC, Gaynor Jackson.

“The program is so important because if empathy is developed, aggression is reduced,” says Gordon. “And we know that aggression is the gateway to poor mental health and other negative outcomes. The program helps build a healthier society where people are connected to one another.” ”